Spin-dependent collision of ultracold metastable atoms

Abstract

Spin-polarized metastable atoms of ultracold ytterbium are trapped at high density and their inelastic collisional properties are measured. We reveal that in collisions of Yb( 3 P 2 ) with Yb( 1 S 0 ) there is relatively weak inelastic loss, but with a significant spin dependence consistent with Zeeman sublevel changes as being the dominant decay process. This is in strong contrast to our observations of Yb( 3 P 2 )-Yb( 3 P 2 ) collisional losses, which are, at low field, much more rapid and have essentially no spin dependence. Our results give a guideline to using the 3 P 2 states in many possible applications.

Properties of the ground3F2state and the excited3P0state of atomic thorium in cold collisions withAu1, Connolly2, Ketterle3 et al. 2014Phys. Rev. ASelf Cite

“…Our result is similar to previous studies of 1 S 0 -3 P 0 collisions among the alkaline earths [16][17][18]. This very low quenching cross section allows for the determination of a long radiative lifetime for Th ( 3 P 0 ), τ > 130 ms.…”

“…In addition to our study of anisotropy in the ground state, we also measure the collisional properties of Th in its first excited [16][17][18]. In our experiment, transitions between fine-structure multiplets are not energetically allowed.…”

Quantum chaos in ultracold collisions betweenYb(1S0)andYb(3P2)Green1, Vaillant2, Frye3 et al. 2016Phys. Rev. A162110View full textAdd to dashboardCite

“…This is the lowest component of the j = 2 manifold. Inelastic decays to the j = 0 and j = 1 manifolds in 2-body collisions with Yb( 1 S) are slow, with a decay rate that has been measured to have an upper bound of 10 −13 cm 3 s −1 at fields below 1 G [37]. We have performed coupled-channel calculations of the inelastic rate over the range 0 to 2000 G, and find the background rate to be significantly smaller than this bound, on the order of 10 −17 cm 3 s −1 .…”

Engineering p-wave interactions in ultracold atoms using nanoplasmonic traps

“…In this case, the loss rates for inelastic scattering between 1 S 0 and 3 P 2 can be minimized if spin-changing collisions are avoided by choosing the m ¼ À 2 hyperfine state 36 . With optical traps, the trapping on the z direction is usually of the order of hundreds of nanometres far from the resonance region.…”